The 2 most common questions... yet again

[Papa Smurf]

Don't worry. In a month or so I shall only have sporadic net access, so will not be posting many more questions. However, until then!....

12 volt TV - LCD, the bigger the better. Not fussed either way about DVD included, but would be nice to be able to hook up HDMI output from my PC to it as a monitor. Any recommendations (and links please) ?

12 volt digibox.... Anyone know where there are any "in stock"? Don't really want to get a second-hand one from ebay - you never know who's been messing about with them.

All advice, pointers and offers of freebies accepted

 

[Geo]

My question to you why 12Volt the cheapest way by far, and a huge selection is 240Volt and Inverter
Geo

 

[Jim]

I agree with Geo papa, go with regular 240 with an inverter. much better than faffing with the 12 volt stuff

 

[Lindy-C]

Inverters are all very well if you have hook up but will nail your batteries if "wild camping" for long periods of time, especially when running 2 televisions, satellite, and whatever other accessories.........just a thought

 

[American Dream]

I agree with Geo papa, go with regular 240 with an inverter. much better than faffing with the 12 volt stuff

Inverters are not the most effective route as they are no where near 100 efficient.

12volt into LOW Wattage 12v is the way to go.

Use 12v wind gen or solar to top up the batteries when stationary.

ANY conversion of voltage wastes energy (usually in heat)

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[Jim]

My inverter setup works great, got 4 110 batts and 2 girt big panels on the roof, can easy go for a week using the inverter for TV a couple of hours a night.

Most people are mostly on hook up, so it makes sense for most to go 240, and it saves all that lead swapping, and the kit is MUCH cheaper, you can even buy a couple more batteries with what you save.

 

[Rose Royce]

Inverters are all very well if you have hook up but will nail your batteries if "wild camping" for long periods of time, especially when running 2 televisions, satellite, and whatever other accessories.........just a thought

What other things are you running while wild camping. Don't you ever try living without all the STUFF with which we've surrounded ourselves inthe last 50 tyears. Isn't that the point of having a motor home?:Confused:

 

[American Dream]

What other things are you running while wild camping. Don't you ever try living without all the STUFF with which we've surrounded ourselves inthe last 50 tyears. Isn't that the point of having a motor home?:Confused:

Yep I quite agree,

Wouldn't camping be so much more fun without all the modern Teccy devices.

Bl..dy Mobile Phones.Link Removed

 

[Geo]

What other things are you running while wild camping. Don't you ever try living without all the STUFF with which we've surrounded ourselves inthe last 50 tyears. Isn't that the point of having a motor home?:Confused:

If I was in that mind set I'd sell up and go rent a cave

As ever there are two schools of thought I'm with the second
IE the challenge for me is to get my Motor home as comfortable as possible and that doesn't just mean heat and water, read up on the mountain of info with regards Inverter V 12 volt and you will be surprised, I believe the 12 V side pulling all it can takes more out of the battery than an iverter dropping the voltage down, as I said two sides to every story
Geo

 

[Jim]

When I think camping, i think of our first "Motorhome" which consisted of a peice of green nylon attached to the bullbar of our Landrover and the ground, it made a great makeshift tent and was proper camping. I suffer now for the hundreds of nights I have spent sleeping on the hard ground

My motorhome now is not a camper its a mobile hotel room and everything that goes with it. :thumb: For me motorhoming is not camping

Me and my son will go walking/camping this year we will park up the hotel room somewhere leaving the three girls in it and walk carrying everything we need for a couple of nights away, its great fun and I will enjoy it immensley, though I know I will look forward to getting back to the hotel room

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[adventure]

Hi Papa

I think ( IMO ) the size of the TV depends on where you are going to mount it and how far away you will be to watch it, you may find that a smaller 12v TV will suit better if you mount it in a more local area than above the dashboard, your options are then more open as there are quite a number of 15" - 19" 12v Tv's available.

There are also a number of different 12v satellite recievers, most are free to air so at the moment you will not be able to get channel 4 and 5 as this is still encrypted by SKY, if you are after the SKY pace mini box which is 12v they are available but Pace have not made these (so I am told by thier suppliers ) for a number of years so the ones on the market place are factory refurbished.

 

[Terry]

Hi, seeing as a lot of 240v are 12v there is no saving down the inverter rd unless you want somthing bigger than 26 ins.Mine is wired stright to the plug on status ariel,no fancy gismos or anything.When on hook-up the battery gets charged anyway so no need to change plugs etc,never a problem !
asda sell a durabrand 12v on digi box for £17.99 works a treat (also wired to ariel point)along side the grundig lcd/dvd tv.This lot (135ah batt) lasts 3/4 days used for 3/4 hrs a night but we drive the van to the shops etc, so it gets a small charge from that. No solar pans wind gennys or other waste of money (to me!) items. If this did not last long enough I would add a extra battery which is a lot cheaper than panels etc but you would loose the Snob / bragging look at my panel facter.I doubt very much in this country if pannels would fully charge any batts, only topping up.Especialy in dark wet dismal weather today.Before anyone jumps on me I am not saying you do not need pans etc, but ask yourself do you wild camp more than 3.4 days at a time?I know lots of people that waste £1,000s on these gissmos and never camp without h/up
terry
crash helmit ready

 

[American Dream]

Hi, seeing as a lot of 240v are 12v there is no saving down the inverter rd unless you want somthing bigger than 26 ins.Mine is wired stright to the plug on status ariel,no fancy gismos or anything.When on hook-up the battery gets charged anyway so no need to change plugs etc,never a problem !
asda sell a durabrand 12v on digi box for £17.99 works a treat (also wired to ariel point)along side the grundig lcd/dvd tv.This lot (135ah batt) lasts 3/4 days used for 3/4 hrs a night but we drive the van to the shops etc, so it gets a small charge from that. No solar pans wind gennys or other waste of money (to me!) items. If this did not last long enough I would add a extra battery which is a lot cheaper than panels etc but you would loose the Snob / bragging look at my panel facter.I doubt very much in this country if pannels would fully charge any batts, only topping up.Especialy in dark wet dismal weather today.Before anyone jumps on me I am not saying you do not need pans etc, but ask yourself do you wild camp more than 3.4 days at a time?I know lots of people that waste £1,000s on these gissmos and never camp without h/up
terry
crash helmit ready

Fair Comment. Crash helmet not required from here.:thumb:

Here.How about this?Generate your 12v AND keep fit.

 

[Terry]

Hi how about converting one of those to a tredmill ! For the dog!!! not me I will never run out of power
terry

 

[American Dream]

Hi how about converting one of those to a tredmill ! For the dog!!! not me I will never run out of power
terry

Sounds like a good idea Terry.

Link RemovedLink Removed

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[Terry]

Hi, I wish I was smart, nice one:thumb:
terry

 

[American Dream]

Hi, I wish I was smart, nice one:thumb:
terry

But you ARE Terry.You've self-built a van.:thumb:

 

[Terry]

Hi Steve,I suspose we all are in different waysBuilding the van was easy but computers with moving bits
terry

 

[Papa Smurf]

Guys, can I bring this thread back on track please.


I'm happy to stick with the 12volt route

Thanks,

Papa

 

[Papa Smurf]

Geo, you were right, so I've amended my previous post.:thumb:

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[Terry]

Hi Papa, oooops sorry tried my bit on 12
terry

 

[Road Runner]

I use 240 volt and inverter far easier.

there you go an on topic posting

 

[Xoxoc]

Papa,

Assuming you meant a SKY digibox (and not a freeview digibox) I will echo adventure's post about the fact that they are no longer made.

I had one in our last RV and whilst it was 12 volt natively and it was a very small and compact unit - the lack of RGB output means that I won't have one again.

Plus the fact that they are all quite old now puts me off, considering the prices they fetch.

HTH
Bryan

 

[Papa Smurf]

I finally got round to unpacking my SKY box today - a 12/240 volt model (430N) that I got a month or so ago. "Looks fairly simple" thought I.... oh the follies of youth and old men....

Tried to figure out the connections through the CAMOS system (have had a static 40cm dome fitted) and the "signal splitter" which allows signals to TV1, TV2 and VCR to come from separate sources.

Now, I must admit, if I HAD a TV set, life would have been easier. But I haven't (yet) and so was trying to use my laptop TV USB stick as the output. Spectacularly unsuccessful. June even put down her cross-stitch to ask me what the heck I was doing...
:Blush:
So, if anyone at Newark would like to humour me and point out where I've been going wrong, I would be grateful. I haven't touched the connections installed by people who appear to be more knowledgeable than I, so I know the failures are all of my own making. I don't need to know before Newark as June has threatened me with physical violence if I try anything before next weekend.

On the positive side, there's been no smoke, no blown fuses, and Junior has had a banana.

:thumb:
Papa

 

[pappajohn]

I finally got round to unpacking my SKY box today - a 12/240 volt model (430N) that I got a month or so ago. "Looks fairly simple" thought I.... oh the follies of youth and old men....

Tried to figure out the connections through the CAMOS system (have had a static 40cm dome fitted) and the "signal splitter" which allows signals to TV1, TV2 and VCR to come from separate sources.

Now, I must admit, if I HAD a TV set, life would have been easier. But I haven't (yet) and so was trying to use my laptop TV USB stick as the output. Spectacularly unsuccessful. June even put down her cross-stitch to ask me what the heck I was doing...
:Blush:
So, if anyone at Newark would like to humour me and point out where I've been going wrong, I would be grateful. I haven't touched the connections installed by people who appear to be more knowledgeable than I, so I know the failures are all of my own making. I don't need to know before Newark as June has threatened me with physical violence if I try anything before next weekend.

On the positive side, there's been no smoke, no blown fuses, and Junior has had a banana.

:thumb:
Papa

get your hand in your pocket and buy a proper tv,
papa.that should do the trick.:thumb:

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[N Luyetund]

whoops! edited out........